


Beyond the Years

by ForTheLoveOfAll



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Afterlife, Gen, Kink Meme, Limbo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-13 11:37:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12983262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForTheLoveOfAll/pseuds/ForTheLoveOfAll
Summary: Prompt fill for:Looking for Arwen and Kili meeting after Middle Earth has ended, talking about their loved ones as they wait in-between worlds for Tauriel and Aragorn.





	Beyond the Years

# Beyond the Years

 

 

 

 

 

 
    
    
    I
    
    Beyond the years the answer lies,
    Beyond where brood the grieving skies
       And Night drops tears.
    Where Faith rod-chastened smiles to rise
       And doff its fears,
    And carping Sorrow pines and dies—
       Beyond the years.
    
    II
    
    Beyond the years the prayer for rest
    Shall beat no more within the breast;
       The darkness clears,
    And Morn perched on the mountain’s crest
       Her form uprears—
    The day that is to come is best,
       Beyond the years.
    
    III
    
    Beyond the years the soul shall find
    That endless peace for which it pined,
       For light appears,
    And to the eyes that still were blind
       With blood and tears,
    Their sight shall come all unconfined
       Beyond the years.  
    
      
    
    Paul Laurence Dunbar, 1872 - 1906  
    
      
    
    

* * *
    
    
            
          

Kíli had been in the between-world for quite some time when she appeared. Not willing to move on to the Halls of Waiting, because he feared that he might possibly miss his last meeting with Tauriel before they would meet again when the Khazâd had rebuilt Arda, he had pleaded with Mahal to remain in the limbo between the now and the different afterlives. A limbo through which all souls, Human, Elven, Hobbit, and Khazâd passed, before finding their place of waiting. It was said that even the Elves who had sailed to Valinor had come through the limbo on their journey West. But Tauriel was Silvan, either way, she would never sail.

She appeared at the edge of his vision if you could call it that when you had no actual eyes anymore. “Show yourself!”, he demanded in what he thought was a commanding tone, befitting his status as a prince. – He had had entirely too much time to practice while waiting. – He felt slightly insulted when she laughed, but then moved nearer.

“Who are you? Why are you here?” It was uncommon for any soul to freely wait in limbo. And most had no reason to. Kíli himself hadn’t met any other soul during the century he had already waited. In the beginning, he had sometimes mused that his uncle might have waited with him if he had not been so damaged by his sickness. Sometimes, he had cursed his uncle for his cowardly behaviour, however, he had chosen this boredom freely.

The Elf, for that, was what she had to be, laughed again, her voice not all too unalike to silver chimes in the wind. He was already irritated by her. She reminded him of the Elves they had met in Lord Elrond’s house almost an age ago.

“Peace, Master Dwarf”, she said amused. “I mean no ill. I imagine I am here for the same purpose as you.”

“And what might that be?”, he answered, sounding more than a bit miffed at her pretentious nature. Why would any elf wait for someone? She even had the same air the elves of Rivendell had excluded, not at all like the Elves of the Woodland Realm, who were fair and joyful, yet, except for their Prince and King, not half as ethereal as the Lord Elrond and his kin.

That posed another more intriguing question. Weren’t they all supposed to meet in the Undying Lands overseas? He had visited the Grey Havens near the Blue Mountains at some point during his youth with his brother and uncle for trading agreements. And he had learned from Tauriel that it was almost unheard of that an Elf and a mortal came together or fell in love. So why was the she-Elf with him in Limbo?

His thought process must have displayed on his face. – Despite having learned patience, practising kingly or rather a princely behaviour, and a deeper understanding of himself, in general, there were no mirrors in limbo. The little ability to close off his thoughts he had had, had to have decreased even more. –

“You wonder what would make an Elf wait in this place when we’re supposed to meet all our loved ones after sailing to Valinor. You know that I am not like your beloved, and it is true. I am the daughter of Elrond Peredhil, and a descendant of the Lady of the Golden Woods, Lady Galadriel. What business should I have waiting here, when all those I love, my brothers, my father and all I knew throughout my life have already sailed and are waiting for me in the Undying Lands. Yet, I assure you, my reason for staying here is the same as yours. I am waiting for the one I love.”

“You are an Elf. Even if your beloved was mortal, it doesn’t make sense for you to have passed first-“

“And yet it is the case. I chose to become mortal, to defy my father, quite similar to your defiance of your uncle and your race’s prejudices for my race. The minuscule amount of mortal blood from my father’s side that ran through my veins was enough to enable me to make a choice between eternal life and mortality.”

“That is a great sacrifice to make just for loving someone. Why not choose to stay immortal and move on after your love has died?”, he questioned humbled by her choice. He pondered on whether he would have chosen death, had he been an Elf. It was different with Tauriel; he knew that she was mortal in such a way that her lifespan was great, yet not eternal since her kind did not feel the pull of the sea.

“And yet you have already spent almost two centuries in solitude when you could have been living or sleeping in your Maker’s halls, waiting for your task in the great rebuilding of Arda. Together with your sibling, your uncle, your father, your ancestors and your friends. Just to see her once more for a short moment when she passes at some point in the future when even your natural lifespan would have long ended”, she startled him, smiling radiantly.

And suddenly, he understood her reasoning. Yet, to capture the Elf’s interest, the mortal must have been someone extraordinary. After what had apparently been centuries alone with his own thoughts and memories, he was eager to learn what had happened after his untimely death at the hand of Orcs. “Who was he, this mortal?”

“My father’s ward. A ranger who fulfilled a legacy that had been almost forgotten for more than an Age.”

He remembered rumours of the Rangers who supposedly were descendants of a long lost kingdom. He had learned from Bilbo during their travels that they had been the ones to save the Shire from the goblins and wolves during the harsh Fell winter that had forced even the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains to remain in their halls. Which legacy she spoke of, he did not know. Getting conclusive answers from the she-Elf was worse than getting them from Gandalf had been, now, that he thought of it.

Time passed differently in Limbo. He was used to a long time alone, and patience paid off. It seemed, even mischievous Elves who spoke in riddles could not hold out that long. He grinned inwardly when she began to talk again.

“You must have realised during your lifetime that the influx of evil Arda experienced was not natural. Especially after what you saw yourself faced with during the battle you fell in.” He thought about it. She was right, the number of forces working against them when his uncle had made up his mind to regain their birthright, had been disturbing and not at all natural. Not that there hadn't been some skirmishes to be expected. Just not Goblins, Orcs  Necromancers, and not a few, but whole armies.

The She-Elf by the name of Arwen, as it turned out, revealed to him the story of a quest, even grander than his own had been. It reminded him of the stories of old, of heroes of valour and great kings. His heart broke during her narrative of what yet another Hobbit of Bilbo’s line had been burdened with. And what the aftermath of their own adventure had cost the latter. Despite it all, he began to see that his uncle’s quest had not just been the efforts of an exiled Dwarf to reclaim his lost throne, but of great importance during the Battle for all free races. And while his own death had robbed him dearly, it had not been in vain.


End file.
